After record day, stock market pauses

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer

Wednesday

Apr 24, 2019 at 12:20 PMApr 24, 2019 at 12:20 PM

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks followed a record-setting day with more subdued trading Wednesday as investors continue digesting a steady flow of corporate earnings and a potential break in the trade war between the U.S. and China.

Stocks are mostly unchanged and bond prices are rising as investors pull back into a more defensive position. There were slightly more gainers than losers in morning trading. Real estate companies and utilities, both typically considered less-risky investments, are rising, while health care companies and banks lag.

Analysts have been expecting a contraction in first-quarter corporate profits, but the results so far have been mostly solid. That trend continued with profit beats from e-commerce company eBay and industrial giant General Dynamics.

Anadarko surged as Occidental tries to push out Chevron in a bidding war for the company. Boeing rose 1%, despite a disappointing first quarter report and a pulled forecast because of its troubled 737 Max.

Investors have been becoming more confident that the economy will continue to grow steadily after the Federal Reserve indicated it would hold off on raising interest rates. However, there are still threats to the economy from international trade disputes.

The U.S. and China are still embroiled in a trade war that has raised costs for several companies. Others, like Caterpillar, are seeing lower revenue in Asia because of the dispute.

A U.S. delegation will visit Beijing next week to continue trade negotiations. Chinese officials will visit Washington for more talks starting May 8. They are aimed at resolving a dispute over Beijing's technology policies and other issues that have clouded the economic outlook and shaken financial markets.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index edged up 0.1% as of 11:20 a.m. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.

THERE WILL BE BIDS: Occidental Petroleum started a bidding war for Anadarko Petroleum as the oil industry's largest companies try to secure their positions in the oil-rich Permian Basin.

The company is best-known for its robotic Roomba vacuum. It beat profit forecasts for the quarter and gave investors solid guidance for the year, but it wasn't enough to overcome disappointing revenue growth.

REACHING THE CLOUDS: SAP soared to an all-time high after activist investor Elliott Management revealed a $1.3 billion investment in the German software company. The company's U.S.-listed stock rose 11.4%.

The disclosure came in a note from Elliott praising the company's decision to undergo a strategic review. The company makes software used by business to run their operations. It has been focusing more on cloud computing.

The stake was revealed as the company reported solid first-quarter profit and revenue results.

ADD TO CART: E-commerce company eBay rose 5.2% after raising its full-year sales and profit forecast. Active buyers grew by 4% during the first quarter, pushing revenue and profit beyond Wall Street forecasts. The company has been facing increasingly tougher competition from Amazon and traditional retailers that have beefed up their online presences.

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